The film title ‘Orphan’
The font of the title is average size and in upper case letters. The word is written in chalk, this can represent youth (as all schools began with writing with chalk on a blackboard, and young children normally use chalk to in the beginning). It can also mean a disability or a deformity, as it does not look like it is meant to be associated with children writing. The colour is white, which could represent purity? However this does contradict the horror genre, because it is supposed to portray evil? The use of chalk could also be supernatural representing the unknown as ghosts typically write in chalk in horror films.
‘Can you keep a secret?’
The font is small, but effective because it is eye-catching which creates intrigue because we want to find out the secret, due to the use of direct address used in the word ‘you’, which draws people in. It is upper case writing to make it look dominant, even though it’s a small font. The red font represents evil/ blood which are a typical horror convention. It gives us as the target audience an incentive of what the film could possibly be about, connecting that to the main image of the girl.
‘There’s something wrong with Esther’
The strap line is in a big font and upper case, which makes it effective as it is eye-catching. It is against a dark green background, so it is hugely visible and stands out, thus grabbing the audience’s attention. A warning is given to the audience, alerting them of the content of the film and to expect scary twists. We are addressed that the orphan is in fact Esther, which also contrasts what an orphan is, which explains her strange appearance.
The Main image of Esther
The main image dominates the whole width of the page. It is a medium close up, therefore gives a better focus on the face. Esther’s collar around her neck can represent that there is a secret waiting to come out, but it can also be used to prevent it coming out and instead holding it back, so the collar could symbolize a barrier. The facial expression of Esther is very daunting and mysterious, as if there is an unknown factor about her, that we do not yet know about. Esther’s top that she is wearing looks very old fashion, which creates intrigue that why would a young girl wear an old fashioned type jumper, and not girly dresses? The type of material the top is looks like cotton. Again creates questions as only old people tend to wear this type of material, maybe mentally she feels more comfortable looking older which shows on her physical appearance. Yet there is some sense of youth shown on Esther, as her hair is tied with black bows and ribbons, which adds to the effect. However the dark black hair may not show innocence. The dress/top, hair is slightly out of focus, there is more focus on the face. The fact that everything is black: black hair bows and ribbons suggest some kind of evil. The special use of make-up to create dark hollow eyes makes her look cold, emotionless and evil. The make-up is applied around the eyes, cheekbone and over the eyebrows. My opinion is that the white foundation adds a ghostly effect. Even though the film is not a supernatural, we can interpret from this image that a young child called Esther is not being portrayed, but maybe someone else is being portrayed who is evil and older. There is a mysterious and chilling welcome we get from Esther’s eyes. Her eyes are quite small, giving and evil pose. When you look into her yes, it gives the audience a feeling that you are possibly not looking into Esther’s eyes, but somebody else’s, which creates a feeling of horror, and a suggestion of the unknown and mystery, as if she is beholding a deep, dark secret. The make-up on the eyebrows creates an effective concept that they are trying to make them look like an older person’s eyebrows. Esther’s centre parting is very clean and prestige, which raises the theory that she, may look to mature for her age? In addition it also shows true traditional and old fashioned values of what a girl or woman should have may have looked like in the 1930’s. This is highly contradictory, as the film is set in the modern day, and in the film the family that Esther lives with, look more modern and up to date, with the time they are living in. Esther has some kind of noticeable mark on her upper lip. This gives a visual message to an audience who may not have seen the film that Esther may have possibly have been a victim of physical abuse whilst being in the orphanage or her home life. Or the mark could be faint facial hair. Yet it is strangely placed as one strip from the top of her nose going vertically down to the top of the upper lip. Even though all females tend to be naturally born with facial hair (depending on the amount that you have, Esther has a very noticeable thick patch on her upper lip. In addition, scientifically body hair for women grows after the Menopause during old age, where there is an increase in the levels of Testosterone, which outweighs Oestrogen. This can imply that the mark could symbolize that Esther may not be a vulnerable and youthful child that we would expect from a little girl, but instead something else, that is older than she actually is, which creates suspense.
The Credits at the bottom of the page
At the bottom of the page, the traditional codes and conventions of all film trailers are kept the same. The date of when the film is released and all of the companies/institutions-lighting, sound, costume etc are listed in its original places on the poster. This is done to remain loyal to its audience and to still show the typical conventions of a horror film trailer. However it is placed at the bottom of the page, which can make it less significant and dominant.
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